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Scott Rasmussen

"Who am I? Well, some people think you are what you do... so for them, I am an artisan. I design and create works of art, so therefore I am an artist. However, I am not one who believes that it is necessary to create works of art in order to be an artist. Art, like beauty, is 'in the art of the beholder.' It takes an artist's eye in order for a work of art to come into being, a collaboration between the 'seer' and the 'seen.' Therefore the art of observation is indeed a legitimate form of art, one that can be developed but it is generally a gift from birth, either you have it or you don't. But perhaps the 'artist' is in all of us to a greater or lesser degree.

"I was born and raised in Long Island and moved to California when I was 21, where I worked for 15 years on TV shows and movies as an electrician, special effects technician, carpenter, specialty prop and model maker. In 1989 I began a five year apprenticeship in the art of lapidary, and traveled around Asia looking for ethnographic art. It didn't take long to find out that the real antiquities of this part of the world had become quite scarce so I began making jewelry full time in India, Thailand, Nepal, Sri Lanka and in Java and Bali as well. I got tired of all the packing and unpacking so I decided to pick one place to work that had the most to offer and I picked Bali. I traveled back and forth from Bali to Los Angeles once or twice a year before settling here in the year 2000.

"I think the artist sees art everywhere, especially where it isn't labeled as such. I love technology and science, in the service of the arts or as they exist separate from those who don't see the artistry hidden within them. I love movies and music, photography, computers and sports. The arts are everywhere.

"Some say you are what you believe, or what you think. For them I am more elusive for I love to imagine and to go deeply into thought, but I have no constraints as to what to believe or entertain as possibility. To those who say we are what we think, I have to disagree and state emphatically that the opposite is true, that we are not what we think we are at all. So yes, I enjoy meditation, setting aside a quiet time to still my mind and for an uncounted period of time enter the stillness. And there is a passive form of meditation I practice throughout the day in which I remind myself that whatever I identify with is not who I am – that I am connected to everyone and everything.

"If you are one who believes you are what you feel, then you have a better understanding of who I am. I am one who feels deeply and believes feelings are the most important parts of life, connecting us to everyone and everything honestly and without the illusions the mind tends to create. If art is good, it communicates a feeling.

"Analyzing and talking about art is fine but pointless compared to the feeling it conveys. It's great to have a good mind to use for whatever purposes you see fit, but just as you need to breathe you need the ability to quiet it and just allow yourself to feel.

"So I guess that's who I am, just a combination of activities, thoughts and feelings like all of us. Here's a thought: Maybe Art is not superficial at all, or beauty skin deep. Maybe it is a direct experience of the Divine within us. That has to be true... until it isn't."